French Open Betting – Nadal-Federer headed for another chapter in rivalry

by Dirty on October 2, 2014

Nadal Federer betting will be the main focus of the 108th edition of the French Open, which begins on Sunday, May 24th at Roland Garros in Paris, France. But the world’s top two players have to navigate the rest of the field throughout the two-week tournament, in which Nadal is favored by online sports book odds to win his fifth straight clay-court major championship.

Nadal is the runaway favorite at -300, and he’ll be eager to get back on the court after losing to Federer in the final of the Madrid Masters, snapping his win streak on clay at 33 matches. Still, the 22-year-old top-ranked player is on a roll as he won the Australian Open and two of the last three majors now. On clay, he is nearly unbeatable.

Federer is rated with French Open odds of +600, and he needed the win in Madrid over Nadal as bad as anyone has ever needed a win. Many remember Federer sobbing after losing the finals of the Australian Open to Nadal back in February in another five-set epic, and he’s lost to Nadal three years in a row in the French Open final. In a career highlighted by 13 major championships, he’s never won at Roland Garros, and he even had his stranglehold on Wimbledon broken by Nadal, although he did manage to win the U.S. Open.

Novak Djokovic has French Open odds of +650, but he’s retired in three of the last four major tournaments for various reasons, the most recent of which was heat exhaustion in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against Andy Roddick. The Serb, who is the No.4 ranked player in the world, has never reached the finals at Roland Garros, but he’s made it to the semis in the last two years.

Andy Murray is ranked No.3 in the world, but has never advanced past the third round of this event, which is why he has French Open odds of +1000. The 22-year-old Englishman got off to a great start, beating Nadal, Federer and James Blake in an exhibition tournament, and he also beat Nadal at an event in Rotterdamn before losing to the world No.1 at Indian Wells.

Outside of the top two, Murray has the best chance of making the finals at Roland Garros, but that’s highly doubtful. Barring miracle or injury, Nadal will be there again, and Federer has regained some of his confidence after his win in Madrid. Still, if you’re placing an online bet in the world’s premier clay-court tournament, pick Rafael Nadal and his French Open odds.